Localized urbanization will save Arizona

The plight of commuting in Phoenix is well known by the city’s residents. Much of the time spent by Phoenicians consists of driving across the city, which can take over an hour when going from end to end. This trek is unsustainable for the city’s growth. At this point, growth is inevitable. Arizona’s growing population is no exception, boasting some of the highest annual growth rates of the past few years. However, a disturbing and noticeable trend has taken its toll on the state, manifesting itself in suburbanization — or the expansion of metropolitan settlements.

Much of Phoenix’s suburban area is spread throughout the different cities in the Phoenix metropolitan area, which consists of 27 different municipalities. These suburbs stir up a familiar idea — “Little Boxes,” the 1962 song by Malvina Reynolds, which captures the sentiment perfectly; no community is formed by proximity to neighbors alone.

“Little boxes on the hillside, and they all look just the same,” Reynolds sang.

Downtown Phoenix, described by The Arizona Republic as “hiding in all that sprawl,” is the only place in the metropolitan area that has any sense of identity.

Community is best in close quarters, where small businesses are within walking distance of homes and life takes place at every corner. Phoenix’s layout is not made to support these activities; in suburban neighborhoods, life is hidden in “little boxes.” Its beauty is limited to tan and white subdivisions. Humanity’s gifts fall short when they are witnessed through a window.

The revitalization of Phoenix’s “urban core,” as the nonprofit group This Could Be PHX puts it, is what could bring Arizona to its full potential. The goal is not economic vitality — though it could be a side effect — but ultimately, a strengthened community.

Arizonan culture does not consist of strip malls and freeways, as much as the city’s layout might imply. The best of Arizona is only seen in the central, urban areas of its cities, from those of Phoenix, Flagstaff and Sedona.

These communities are alive. Each has its own identity; spiritualism thrives in Sedona, while Phoenix is fast-paced and modern. However, if Arizona’s main priority of expansion focuses on dull suburban areas, any livelihood in the desert will die.

One of the primary concerns that lead to Arizona’s urban sprawl is heat. The idea of traveling in an air-conditioned car is much more appealing than walking far distances in high heat. But this train of thought is paradoxical carbon emissions raise a place’s temperature. Highway vehicles produce about 1.4 billion tons of greenhouse gases, which contribute to increased temperatures in cities. Avoiding heat by creating more emissions is a failed attempt at finding a solution to high-temperature living.

Walkable communities, on the other hand, offer both livelihood and climate-safe transportation.

With a population of 1.625 million people — about 80% of whom reside in the Greater Phoenix area — this highway-reliant state cannot stay as it is much longer.

Arizona is a unique state. When a place is consistently hitting temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the conditions required to live will be different than in other places. Walkability is a concern in a hot city like Phoenix, but rest assured, it’s attainable.

Phoenix’s heat is more demanding of its people than most walkable cities, like Manhattan or London. However, the state is left with few alternate choices if economic fruition is expected to continue while creating equitable solutions to the climate crisis. It is too late to reverse city growth. Urban communities cannot be torn down when people have built lives there for generations. Of course, this growth has led to negative impacts on temperatures in urban areas. These phenomena are known as heat islands. But even though damage has already been done, efforts to combat it can be made; cool roofs, increased shade and Phoenix does not have to be reliant on cars.

While high heat makes walkability difficult, time in this desert is better spent with neighbors and friends on a warm evening than in a car.

Walkable communities maintain stronger bonds. Right now, it could be argued Arizona’s strongest bonds lie in camaraderie for sports teams. Though this is not completely negative, it is unsustainable and provides few benefits to the communities themselves, favoring wealthy team owners and imported athletes over home cities themselves. The central locations for Arizona’s basketball, baseball and football teams are in downtown Phoenix and Glendale, far from where many Phoenicians reside. In walkable urban communities, relationships could be formed by neighborliness and human kindness, rather than shared joy for a sports team.

Arizona’s beauty is significant. It must be left untainted; therefore, urban growth needs to be localized. Small urban areas are the key to preserving it, as opposed to massive, disjointed ones.

Strong communities are essential to a city’s success and longevity. In a state like Arizona, with so many challenges, the only way is up, not out.

It’s difficult to maintain livelihood in a desert state. Now that life is growing in Arizona, it’s essential to keep the communities which have been built here livable. Otherwise, the state is better off without us.

Phoenix metro area is on the cusp of being dangerously overextended,” Overpeck told The Guardian. “It’s the urban bullseye for global warming in North America.”

The growth of urbanization creates issues because it causes a lack of access to safe water and sanitation, and increases water-related disasters, such as droughts and floods. Phoenix still refuses to place stricter water restrictions or develop a drought contingency plan.

Arizona is experiencing a declining water supply, but rich capitalists are still in the process of expanding their construction sites. Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, has invested $80 million into his “smart city,” a plan to build 80,000 new homes on undeveloped land west of Phoenix and a new freeway connecting to Las Vegas. Gates isn’t the only person or company with plans to further urbanize Arizona.

“Another firm wants to build a ‘master-planned community,’ like Anthem, south of Tucson and modeled after the hilltop towns of Tuscany,” according to an article from The Guardian. “It envisages five golf courses, a vineyard, parks, lakes and 28,000 homes.”

As Arizona becomes filled with urban areas rather than suburban areas, water is not the only resource affected. In its 2022 State of the Air report, the American Lung Association ranked Maricopa County the seventh most polluted county in the country.

Environment America, a research and policy group that uses data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, found the Phoenix metro area experienced 149 days of elevated air pollution in 2020. Arizona’s air quality is steadily declining, and the further expansion of the metropolitan area is only worsening it.

Residents of sprawling cities a term given to describe growing cities that cover a large area, usually generate more carbon emissions. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas and one of the major contributors to climate change and air pollution. Carbon dioxide is often found in developing and growing cities because of the increased need to drive.

It’s the theory of induced demand — building more roads and adding more lanes gives the appearance of speeding up traffic, but by encouraging sprawl, stores, houses and jobs are spread out and provide more reasons to drive to more places and expand many people’s commutes.

With the construction of new freeways, the ‘urban heat island effect’ is produced, meaning cities become hotter than the countryside due to human-made structures and activities. In 2017, 50 flights were grounded at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport because the heat — which hit 116 degrees Fahrenheit — made the air too thin to take off safely. This “heat island” effect also keeps temperatures in Phoenix above 98 degrees Fahrenheit at night during the summer, primarily July.

Another factor that isn’t often considered by the companies and firms that support urban sprawl is how it affects low-income families. When a city or area becomes metropolitan, rent prices soar. Phoenix led the U.S. in the highest rent increases in 2022 with a 30% jump, and rent prices could climb another 20% this year. Phoenix is in a housing crisis and needs 270,000 additional homes in order to combat it, according to the state Housing Department Even with the construction of these new homes underway, low-income families are at a disadvantage because of the number of affordable housing options bought up by large corporate investors who raise rent prices and refuse to take housing vouchers.

For every 100 families in Arizona with incomes below the poverty line, there are only 26 affordable and available rentals. While no state has been able to fully combat this crisis, Arizona’s statistics are concerning when compared to the national rate of 37 homes available for every 100 lowincome renters.

The rapid urbanization of Arizona is primarily beneficial to big corporations who only care about increasing their revenue, often at the expense of the environment or low-income communities. As the Phoenix metropolitan area expands, so does every negative effect that comes with urbanization. As more freeways are constructed, there will be an increase in the state’s air pollution. As more homes are built, there will be more corporate investors to raise rent prices. It becomes a never-ending cycle where residents of the Phoenix area have to deal with a decrease in the quality of the air they breathe while also figuring out how they’re going to afford this month’s rent. The urbanization of Arizona needs to slow down before it inevitably run out of resources.